Location

Public Transportation

By Subway:

Take the N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3, 7 to Times Square.

Take the A, C, E to Port Authority.

About This Theatre

It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi’s restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger. Upon Erlanger’s death in 1930, the venue was taken over by the Astor family, who owned the land on which the theatre stood. The Astors renamed it the St. James Theatre.

The theatre was taken over by the Shuberts in 1941. They were forced to sell it to William L. McKnight in 1957 following the loss of an antitrust case. McKnight renovated the St. James and reopened it in 1958. In 1979, McKnight then transferred the theatre to his daughter Virginia and her husband James H. Binger, who had formed Jujamcyn Theaters.

In 2017, the St. James Theatre completed a renovation which extended its stage by 10 feet into the alley between the Helen Hayes Theatre and the St. James. The stage expansion was intended to accommodate the 2018 Broadway run of the Disney musical Frozen.

Frozen is currently playing at the St. James Theatre.

The St. James Theatre has 1,710 seats and is one of Jujamcyn Theaters’ five Broadway theatres.

Policies

Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express are accepted for ticket purchases.

Dress Code

There is no dress code at the theatre. For all performances, attire should be comfortable and appropriate for the occasion. The theatre is air-conditioned throughout the year.

Children

All guests, regardless of age, require a ticket for entry. Disney intends Frozen for ages 8 and up.
A limited number of booster seats are available at the theatre.

Amenities

Concessions

Located on all levels, the St. James Theatre bars are stocked with a range of cocktails and nonalcoholic beverage choices, which you are welcome to take back to your seats. Don’t forget to pick up a snack!

Restrooms

Restrooms are located down one flight of stairs from the Orchestra level, on the Mezzanine level and on the Balcony level. An accessible restroom is located in the Orchestra lobby.

Cloakroom

If you have a bag or large coat, we’d be happy to check it for you. Please visit the coat check in the Orchestra lobby. The charge is $3 per item.

Parking

Security

Accessible Seating

Accessible seating is available for this performance as indicated on the seating map.

The St. James Theatre provides wheelchair-accessible seating on the Orchestra level of the theatre for all performances for patrons who use wheelchairs and their companions. There are no steps leading into the Orchestra level of the theatre from the sidewalk. There are steps to access seating on other levels of the theatre. Pricing for wheelchair-accessible seats on the Orchestra level varies so as to capture the range of prices available throughout the theatre.

Wheelchair-Accessible Restroom

There is a wheelchair-accessible unisex restroom located on the main level. Restrooms (not wheelchair-accessible) are located down 1 flight of stairs from the Orchestra level, on the Mezzanine level and on the Balcony level. The lower level is located 22 steps down from the Orchestra.

Seat Accessibility

Orchestra Location:
Seating is accessible to all parts of the Orchestra without steps. There are no steps to the designated wheelchair seating locations. Wheelchair seating is in the Orchestra only.

Mezzanine Location:
Located on the second level: up 29 steps from the Orchestra. There are an additional 20 steps up to the remainder of the Mezzanine. Entrance to Mezzanine is behind row E.

Balcony Location:
Located on the third level: up 77 steps from the Orchestra. Please note: On the Mezzanine and Balcony levels, there are approximately two steps up/down per row.

Assisted-Listening Devices

Reservations are not necessary. Driver’s license or ID with printed address required as a deposit. Please call: 212-582-7678 to reserve in advance.

Opened originally as Erlanger’s Theatre in 1927, this house was renamed the St. James after the London theatre of the same name in 1932, and it was restored to its original design and color scheme by current owners Jujamcyn Theaters in 1999.

Kevin Kline returned to the St. James in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter and won a Tony Award; he previously performed here in the original production of On the Twentieth Century, for which he won his first Tony Award.

The St. James has been the original home to several iconic musicals over the years, among them Oklahoma!, The King and I, Li’l Abner, The Pajama Game, Hello, Dolly!, Barnum, My One and Only, The Who’s Tommy, and The Producers.

After The Producers concluded its history-making run, St. James tenants have included Something Rotten!; the revival of Sideshow; Bullets Over Broadway; Manilow on Broadway; Bring It On: The Musical; Leap of Faith; a revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever; Green Day’s American Idiot; revivals of Finian’s Rainbow and Desire Under the Elms; and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

In the fall of 1971, Joseph Papp brought Two Gentlemen of Verona (Tony for Best Musical) here from Central Park, in keeping with the St. James’s Shakespearean past.

Among other important milestones, in 1938 the theatre played home to the first full-length production of Hamlet ever performed in America, starring Maurice Evans. A year earlier, Evans appeared at the St. James in Richard II, the first American production of that play since Edwin Booth’s in 1878.

Other productions over the decades have included the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Nathan Lane; two revivals of Gypsy (Tony Awards went to both Tyne Daly and Patti LuPone for their respective Roses); a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Lois Nettleton; Alice Faye and Gene Nelson in a revival of Good News; and a 20th anniversary revival of My Fair Lady, for which George Rose won a Tony. Highlights of the early, pre-Dolly 1960s included Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn in Becket; Do Re Mi, starring Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker; Subways Are for Sleeping; Mr. President; and Albert Finney in 1964’s best play Tony winner, Luther.

In the 1940s, Helen Hayes and Maurice Evans starred in Twelfth Night; Orson Welles directed Native Son with Canada Lee; Katharine Hepburn and Elliott Nugent cavorted in Philip Barry’s Without Love; and Ray Bolger enchanted in Frank Loesser’s Where’s Charley?, for which he won the Tony.

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